Dealing With Pain
by FandomsKidnappedMe
Summary: Sherlock and John adapt to a new situation. Johnlock if you squint and tilt your head a little to the side.


A/N: This is my first Sherlock fic so I hope you like it! This is only edited by myself so if there are any problems with it, I'm sorry and if you tell me I'll be happy to fix it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, I'm just having some fun with them.

x-x-x

This was not how things used to be. They used to be gallivanting across London chasing criminals in cases deemed an 8 or above. They used to go to Angelo's to be forced to eat even though food slowed their thought processes. They used to be able to spend hours huddled up on the couch wrapped in a blanket, scrolling through possible cases on the internet. Now things were different.

Now they are unable to spend more than 20 minutes in one position or spend more than half an hour walking. Now the act of eating is celebrated when they are able to hold the utensils by themselves. Now shirts with buttons are no longer in the wardrobe and shoe laces have become a nuisance.

It was a huge change when Sherlock was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

At first the symptoms were minor. Sherlock would feel more sore than usual after chasing down the latest murderer and would have to sit down for awhile. But slowly the pain increased until his leg gave out during the chase and he had trouble doing up the buttons on his shirt. John then demanded he see a doctor after seeing the swelling in the Detective's hands.

The doctors quickly took blood tests and x-rays to discover the reason behind the seemingly sudden decline in mobility. Sherlock was the prescribed 5 daily tablets and a fortnightly injection to be administered in his stomach or thigh. At first Sherlock was unbearable with his constant complaints and refusals of medication but with time Sherlock grew up and realised that this was part of his life now.

Some days are good, with Sherlock being able to move around with little to no trouble and being able to feed and clothe himself. But some days are bad and they hurt John the most. Some days Sherlock would have trouble sitting and standing, using utensils and moving about. Sometimes his knees and ankles would hurt so badly that he was unable to hold his own weight and John would become his personal slave for the day, not that he minded. He would do anything for Sherlock.

On these days Sherlock would become withdrawn and irritable, frustrated with his own body's inability to comply with what he wished. He would mostly stay locked up in his room, refusing to eat or accept John's help if he could get out of it. There had been times where John would walk into Sherlock's room to find him in a slightly curled position (because his body wouldn't allow for a fully curled position) with tears on his face. Neither of them would acknowledge the tears but both could see the pain it caused one another. Sherlock knew that John wanted to help and couldn't and John knew Sherlock wanted help but couldn't get it. There was no cure, only methods of controlling the level of pain but even then sometimes the pain can be terrible.

Their life now consisted of Sherlock helping DI Lestrade with cases over the phone or, when Sherlock was particularly miserable, with John going to the crime scene and being in a video chat with Sherlock. John had to cut back on his hours working at the hospital so he would be available to help Sherlock. John now found that Sherlock's experiments weren't as hard to tolerate because the presence of them on the kitchen table meant Sherlock was having a good day and John couldn't bring himself to ruin it.

There were things they both missed from their new lives. They both missed chasing criminals down streets and the thrill of the chase. Sherlock missed the rush of deducing everything and seeing John's face light up in amazement. John missed Sherlock's hyper activity and his dramatic actions.

The thing that they missed the most was Sherlock's violin playing. For Sherlock it was a release of his emotions and a way to communicate. For John it had become a part of his life and without it he was uncomfortable. On his good days Sherlock would play the violin and play music he had written in his head when he was unable to write them down on paper. On these days John would sit and watch with rapt attention and applaud Sherlock when he finished. Sherlock would smile shyly and they would resume what they were doing before Sherlock picked up the instrument. John would look forward to those days the most and Sherlock committed a whole wing in his mind palace just for those moments. He relied on them to get him through the bad days, to help remind him that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Despite this however, some parts of their life remained exactly the same. John was still protecting Sherlock, although from the demons in his head rather than criminals on the street. Sherlock was still just as loud and irritating when he was bored and proceeded to announce it to the world. John constantly pestered Sherlock to eat and he supplied a never ending amount of tea. Sherlock still told everyone they were idiots and treated his brother like he was his mortal enemy. Sherlock was still his frustrating and annoying self and John was there trying to get Sherlock to apologise when he deduced that someone's wife was cheating on him. Whilst life was not easy, it had it moments when the hard times were worth it.

And Sherlock was definitely worth it.


End file.
